We can't count how many times we've been e-mailed with "Hey, have you seen this hysterical 'Lord of the Peeps' web site!?!?!?!" Well, now we have a story ABOUT the Lord of the Peeps site from the Charlotte Observer, of NC -- the home state of the Peep LOTR creators. "We're a very strange family," says Genevieve Baillie ... Nah, they're just Ringers! [More] (Free registration required)

From Stuff.co.nz: What do Peter Jackson, Osama bin Laden and the Pope have in common? Kiwi film-maker Peter Jackson has joined an elite club – Time magazine's list of the world's top 100 influential people. [More]

From scotsman.com: Orlando is that rare bloom, an actor who goes hand in hand with his times. Even off screen Bloom turns heads, but being the centre of attention does not make him comfortable. When he shows up to meet me in London, you get the feeling that he would prefer to go unnoticed. Softly spoken and respectful, the boyish 26-year-old often hugs his body into a ball as he talks, as if trying to hide in plain sight. [More]

PippinSkywalker reports: Lamp Post Productions Ltd. the newly named production company for the Narnia films, is currently casting extras in Auckland, Wellington, and elsewhere. They are looking for short and very tall extras.

Ringer Spy Peter was one of the lucky few to have front row seats to the Howard Shore concert in Belgium earlier this week. Take a look at the photos he sent in! I added them to the group of images from yesterday's post. [More]

Daffodil Baggins writes: Sean Astin will be speaking at the annual Starland convention here in Denver, Colorado today! This is an annual convention covering both Fantasy and Science Fiction genres, and is attended by thousands of people. [starland.com]

Angele writes: The Franciscan University of Steubenville, OH will be playing RotK in the Finnegan Fieldhouse tonight. Admission is free for all. Bring blankets, pillows, and/or lawnchairs. Popcorn and sodas are free too (while supplies last).

LONG BEACH, Calif. - Max Papis turned in the best performance on a rainy Saturday at the Long Beach Grand Prix, driving from last to first in the Toyota Pro-Celebrity race. The professionals in the nine-lap race on the 1.968-mile downtown street circuit start at the rear of the field and with a 30-second handicap. [More]

The latest newsletter is ready to go! Do you want to receive our free weekly newsletter? Packed with tons of info to keep you up to date on the latest? Plus filled with exclusives from time to time! Join the crowd of over 21 300 mailing list members! Sign up now! [More]

Robert M writes: Angus Trim and Christian Fletcher are getting ready to roll out their next set of Lord of the Rings-inspired swords. Unlike the stainless steel United Cutlery swords, these are high-end performance swords, with the blades made by Angus Trim, and the fittings and accessories hand-made by Christian Fletcher. [More] [Shop]

This may be a little late, but PippinSparrow writes: The Kinopalatsi multiplex in Helsinki, Finland, will be showing all three theatrical versions of the LotR films Saturday the 17th April, from 12:30 pm onwards.

Digital Jedi writes: University of South Florida will be showing ROTK at their weekly Movies On The Lawn on Crescent Hill at the Tampa Campus. Showing will start at 8pm on April 21. This coming Wednesday. [usf.edu]

Sideshow/Weta Collectibles have warned customers that the Frodo, Sam, Galadhrim Soldier, King Elendil and Boromir busts will be selling out shortly. If you want to place an order for these items, now would be the time. Also, check out the video montage of 'The Mines of Moria Environment,' in their new 'Ministry of Information' area. [More]

Having escaped the Goblins, Bilbo finds that he is still lost in thevastness of Middle-Earth. His good luck saves him once again though and he soon locates his friends. He tells the story about Gollum to the Compay, but seems disinclined to talk about the Ring. Fearing Goblins out to avenge their dead leader Gandalf urges the Company on. They soon find themselves facing a different enemy however. A band of Wargs forces them to seek refugee in the trees.[More]

On the HUGE news front today...co-CEO/co-Chairman of New Line Cinema, Robert Shaye, has sent an official response to the LET THE HOBBIT HAPPEN campaign! Take a moment and be encouraged by the first official statement from New Line Cinema on the making of The Hobbit! [More]

FredO writes: I received an email message from The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra recently: “Due to the incredible demand, we have added a 3rd performance of the LOTR Symphony. This performance will be on July 29. Tickets are available now, via our website, and since it's just added, there are excellent seats available.” [More]

A special issue of stamps featuring past entries from the World of Wearable Art (WOW) awards will be on sale next month. WOW marketing manager Donna Ching said choosing which entries were showcased was a collaborative effort between WOW and New Zealand Post. [More]

Bryan writes: The LOTR trilogy will be showing at Harding University over a three weekend period beginning this Saturday (April 17). Harding University's campus is in Searcy, AR and the movies will be shown in the Benson Auditorium. Tickets are $2, the auditorium is the largest in Arkansas so come on out, there is plenty of seats. [harding.edu]

Rory writes: The Student Center Programs Council Movie Committee of Georgia Tech is showing the entire trilogy including the extended editions of FOTR & TTT this week at the student center on campus. All details about the event can be found on their web page. They even made their own trailer in quicktime. [More]

sevenstar_3 writes: I have been lucky enough to go to two movie screenings this past month featuring LOTR cast members, Troy, with Orlando Bloom and Sean Bean and The Chronicles of Riddick, with Karl Urban. [More]

Jon writes: Dr. Bradley Birzer, author of 'J.R.R. Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth: Understanding Middle-Earth will be speaking at a conference in Columbia, SC at Covenant Presbyterian Church. It is open to everyone and is free. The dates are Tonight from 7 - 9:45 PM and Saturday from 9 AM - 12PM. Refreshments and continental breakfast will be supplied. For directions or further information call: (803) 782-2442

Viggo Mortensen was born in New York to a Danish father and American mother and lived in Venezuela, Argentina and Denmark while growing up. He made his acting debut in Witness but his big breakthrough came when he played Aragorn in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. [More]

Composer Howard Shore will conduct a series of concerts around the world of his epic six movement The Lord Of The Rings Symphony. The first confirmed date is Friday 16th April 2004, in Antwerp, Belgium. [More]

On the HUGE news front today...co-CEO/co-Chairman of New Line Cinema, Robert Shaye, has sent an official response to the LET THE HOBBIT HAPPEN campaign! Take a moment and be encouraged by the first official statement from New Line Cinema on the making of The Hobbit! [More]

TORn Friend and all around nice guy Bruce Hopkins supplied us with some of his own photographs taken in Los Angeles a few weeks ago. There's a few of them from the Oscarparty, that can be found here, but the most interesting ones are about 'Operation Read'. We posted his must-read report yesterday (read it here), the pictures of his school-visits can now be found in our scrapbook! [More]

Carlene Cordova the director of "Ringers: Lord of the Fans" writes: Hello fellow Ringers! As we're editing "Ringers" together we're discovering that some of the interviews and footage that we're shooting would work better on TORn than in our film. This interview is one example. This was shot at the Nieman Marcus LOTR window unveiling in Beverly Hills, California last December. Cliff "Quickbeam" Broadway is interviewing Billy, and Josh Mandel was running the camera that evening. Enjoy! [TORN Digital]

Arlene writes: The Florida State University Student Life Building is having a LOTR "Late Night Lock-in" on April 16th. All three movies will be shown from 6 PM to 6 AM Saturday morning. Passes are needed, but you can still get in if not enough people with passes turn up. [More]

After last year's successful launch into the television orbit and a safe return to Earth, The Spaceys are all systems go for a second mission....But for these awards, the celebrities and recipients don't come to the show, the show goes to them. Spacey cameras, for example, visited London to present a special lifetime achievement award to pioneer special-effects craftsman Ray Harryhausen...One Harryhausen admirer, Lord of the Rings maestro Peter Jackson, will also be getting a special achievement award, although the Spaceys didn't journey to New Zealand to hand it over. "Jackson actually sent us stuff from New Zealand he had his own people shoot," says Spaceys' on-camera host Jonathan Llyr who notes the Kiwi filmmaker is also up for two other awards on the show. [More]

LOS ANGELES, April 14, 2004 – Tens of thousands of book lovers of all ages will find a smorgasbord of appealing choices when they gather for the ninth annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Saturday, April 24, and Sunday, April 25, on the UCLA campus. [More]

There are many tales of people using their connection to LOTR to do some good in the world. Bruce Hopkins [Gamling the Old] proves he's as good a storyteller as an actor, as he recounts the amazing experiences he had when he agreed to get involved with a project that uses LOTR to fight illiteracy in some of the most underpriviledged communities in LA. This is a fantastic and inspiring story. [More]

Leo here - you can now see some of Bruce's own pictures of these evens in our scrapbook!

Yes, it took us a fair while, but during a recent search through the infamous TORn-Lost-Projects-box we did manage to find the results of the Golden Gandalf Awards. These were supposed to be announced during The Return of the One Party, but unfortunately there just wasn't enough time. The Big Winners? Elijah Wood walked away with three statues while Viggo Mortensen may hopefully one day add two to his award-collection...

Ringer Spy Lee sent in this link to an interview with Viggo Mortensen. Its main focus is obviously his new movie 'Hidalgo', but he also makes some interesting comments such as how he thinks the small Kiwi film 'Whale Rider' deserved the Oscar for Best Film this year. [More]

galor5 writes: I just wanted to let you know that I caught a sneak preview of Andy Serkis' new film "13 going on 30" starring Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo. I originally thought Andy's part was going to be relatively small, but it turns out he had a bigger role, and he was simply amazing! I don't want to give any spoilers away about the movie, but there is a very funny dance sequence that Andy takes part in that just can't be missed by his fans! '13 Going On 30' hits cinema's in the US next Friday.

Today's issue of UK newspaper 'The Sun' showed its okay to re-use an old headline. This time around they have a picture of Elijah Wood on set of his new film 'The Yank' being tortured with a creditcard. Check it out in our scrapbook! [More] Thanks to Ringer Spy Samantha for the scan!

The daily static 'Get Fuzzy' once again snuck in a LOTR-reference. One of the main characters can be seen wearing his WETA-shirt in today's comic. Thanks to everyone who was kind enough to send this in! [More]

Ringer Spy Irascian writes: The latest edition of SFX magazine (May 2004) has a two page article “After the Gongs It’s Kong” based mainly around TheOneRing.net party. There are five (rather scrappy) photo’s from the party and also one of Viggo at the premiere of Hidalgo.

Thanks to TORn Staffer Arathorn we now have a scan of said article, here! And not only that, but he also got his hands on the latest copy of Empire Magazine which also mentions the party and our excellent beacon! Take a look at that scan here!

For those who still aren't tired of courses on 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit', good news! Kristen writes: Barnes and Noble University is once again offering a course on The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, beginning on May 3. The course has no fee if you're registered (registration is free and takes only a few minutes). It is taught by Dana Paxson and more information can be found at http://university.barnesandnoble.com under the liberal arts section!

Ringer Spy Morceleb writes: For all Twin Cities LotR movie fans, Barrie Osborne will be appearing at the Minneapolis Riverview on Friday evening at 7:15 for a forty minute presentation followed by questions. For directions and more information, go here!

Games Workshops Tim Huckelbery sent along the latest pressrelease about the upcoming Games Day Los Angeles: "Games Day conventions are the annual gaming extravaganzas for the Games Workshop series of hobby games such as Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000, the world’s most popular tabletop battlegames. There will be gaming events ranging from beginner to expert for all the games, plus painting contests, seminars, demo games, special guests, and more." [More]

Peter Jackson, already one of the world's most successful movie directors, is expected to earn even more money creating video games based on his films, The New York Times says. The paper said Jackson, who with fellow Oscar winners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens is being paid a record $34 million to make King Kong, worked out a deal with game maker Ubisoft and the film's backer, Universal Pictures. [More]

Ringer Spy Linuxelf writes: Hi just a reminder for all NZ fans; this week friday is the start of the Armageddon Pulp Culture Expo; also GREAT NEWS!! two new LOTR guests has been added!! see below for details! [More]

Nominees have been announced for the 2004 Hugo Awards, recognizing excellence in the field of science fiction and fantasy. Named for legendary magazine editor Hugo Gernsback and awarded annually by the World Science Fiction Society, the Hugos will be presented Sept. 4 at Noreascon Four, the 62nd Worldcon, in Boston.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

•28 Days Later•Finding Nemo•The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King•Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl•X2

A whole slew of people pointed out that Gollum got a Hugo-nomination as well, for his MTV Awards-acceptance speech:

Lord of the Rings remains popular with cartoonists all over the globe. First there's John Cook from cartoons.sev.com.au who writes: I've posted a new Lord of the Rings cartoon revealing the real reason why Gandalf refused the ring. Check it out here!

And 'Monty' keeps up his LOTR-inspired storyline as well, according to Karen: Yesterday (April 12) Liv Tyler showed up, just because there aren't enough babes in the story. [More]

Ringer Spy Irascian writes: Last week John Rhys-Davies was the subject of “60 Seconds” the interview that takes place every day in “Metro” magazine given free to commuters across the UK. You can read the whole interview here!

The LET THE HOBBIT HAPPEN campaign website thehobbitfilm.com has posted two new letter templates to send to our friends at New Line and MGM/UA. Additionally, the number of websites involved in the effort continues to grow with nearly 200 partner posting banners! If you run a website and would like to help, check out the partners area. [More]